Meaning to Betrayal
by SpacePirateGirl
Summary: Sasuke witnesses Orochimaru's cruelty, but not in the way you would apprehend. He must remain captive, a prisoner to his own body. His only dreams forcibly must be taken away from him. Nonyaoi. Finished!
1. An Unexpected Death

A/N: Hey, everyone… I decided to write a Naruto fan fiction, my first one ever. Feel free to review because it will definitely be beneficial. I think most of the time I glance over your profile and occasionally read your stories if you review me… not that it's a bribe, I'm just telling you I _do_ most of the time do that… so yeah… reviews can help you too ;-) anyway, I plan on getting the next chapter done… I'm not making any promises cuz of … well, I guess I'll have to blame it on my laziness, but expect one soon. My obsession with this kind of story will force me to write at least sooner than later on in the story.

Btw, this story might sound yaoi at first, but Orochimaru x Sasuke is SO disgusting. So it's definitely not that… so don't tell me your ideas, some of you sick people out there, unless they don't have to do with yaoi. LOL, I'm jk. Tell me what you want. Anyway, enjoy :-)

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Part 1 – Soul Transfer

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Chapter 1 – An Unexpected Death

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"Get back on your feet," the snake voiced hissed for a sixth time.

Sasuke Uchiha had obeyed each time, the feat getting harder as the minutes ticked by. The curse mark, visible on his neck, throbbed, and the pain was growing steadily stronger. He couldn't stop, though. He had to become powerful enough to beat his brother Itachi. There was no other choice, no other way although this new path of life carried many regrets.

"Now use the jutsu," Orochimaru commanded, a hungry glint in his eyes.

Sasuke forced his exhausted arms to for the hand signals for his Chidori. Like the past four times, the technique failed and Sasuke fell to the ground due to the pain of his burning curse mark.

"Get back on your—"

"No," Sasuke objected, rubbing his neck. "I've had enough."

"Oh, but poor Sasuke," Orochimaru purred. "You've just barely started. Don't tell me you're exhausted already." His tone turned more commanding. "Just one more Chidori, one more. Now get up and try again."

Sasuke's body groaned in protest as he heaved himself up. If he wanted a break, he had to get the Chidori complete for a third time that day. Otherwise, he knew he'd be too weak to get up again, and Orochimaru would have his servants beat him. He still felt the marks and scars from the last two times he failed.

Kakashi-sensei, his former teacher, had said Chidori wouldn't work for him a third time, and didn't press him to keep trying. But now, he was forced to focus his Chakra, so he wouldn't waste any, all thanks to Orochimaru. Of course, Kakashi would never allow such cruel methods, but in a way Orochimaru, the snake who didn't care if a loss of Chakra could result in death, was teaching Sasuke in a way that Kakashi never could. Sasuke might not have been fond of this method, but he knew one thing: that he would walk out of this horrific place trained better than he could be anywhere else.

"Use your hate of Itachi, Sasuke," the pale immortal continued. "Let it flow through you and fuel your Chakra. You will grow more powerful than ever if you simply do as I say."

Sasuke formed the hand signals quicker than ever before. His hate was driving his need to strengthen his Chakra. "Chidori!" he yelled louder than ever and watched as the small, electrical ball illuminated on his hand. Then, right then, his curse mark lighted on fire, and he collapsed, knowing he had failed… and would be beaten. The last thing he saw was Orochimaru's lustful face, the room spinning, and the darkness that consumed it all.

Later, he lay bruised and bloody on a cold stone floor. Sasuke was locked in a chamber without any light… it added to the effect of torturing, making your victim feel alone. Sasuke, although he was use to this since his clan had become extinct, was terrified of the darkness all over again. And the pain he felt from his beating didn't help much either… he was alone.

XXX Three Years Later XXX

Sasuke's eyes opened to the usual dark and small chamber, possessing a small bed with scratchy, uncomfortable covers. He had grown use to his environment long ago… the blackness, the screams billowing in the background—no doubt the work of Orochimaru's "games."

That snake, Sasuke thought as he realized how many families had been broken up by Orochimaru's "fun" with torturing his prisoners. The screams didn't bother him now as they did three years ago, and neither did the pain that rarely missed following his training.

In this period of three years, Sasuke had learned how to use three Chidori a day… one more, and he would be caught up with Kakashi-sensei if not better. But that wasn't all he had learned. He knew several Jutsus now, all of which would soon be molded into destroying his brother. The time for that had almost arrived.

But something felt different today… it was either the silence, despite all the cries from torture, or it was the ghostly darkness of the shadows, hanging on his walls. Whatever the source of the feeling, something today wasn't right….. something ominous today was going to happen…

Soon a sharp knock came at his door, and, after Sasuke's approval, Kabuto stepped in. A long while ago Kabuto had learned to show a little respect to Sasuke, seeing as the Uchiha was the only one alive under Orochimaru's care for three years, besides Kabuto himself.

"What do you want, Kabuto?" Sasuke demanded.

Kabuto smirked although it was almost invisible in the stench of darkness consuming the room. "You need to come with me," he said. It was not a suggestion, it was a command.

Sasuke frowned and chose to disobey. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because if you don't," Kabuto explained in a sing-song voice, "Orochimaru won't be very happy."

Sasuke knew in order to continue his training, it was not the best idea to get Orochimaru pissed off. "Fine," he stated simply. He rose from his bed, got dressed, and soon followed Kabuto down the long stretches of the hallway. They strode together in silence, not looking at each other in the slightest. But Sasuke's suspicions already began to grow… Why was Kabuto acting so mischievous and less polite than he usually did? What was Orochimaru up to? He was sure after three years, he might be able to understand the snake and his follower better, but it seemed his theory was wrong.

Finally they made it to Orochimaru's doorway, and almost instantly as Sasuke opened the door, he found his arms held behind his back by Kabuto and tied together firmly.

"What the—" Sasuke protested, but Kabuto had gagged him with an abnormally dry clothe… It wasn't like him to get hurt anymore, but the cloth was so dry and tight it was almost unbearable. He struggled not to fall flat on his face as Kabuto thrust him forward with only one hand. However, tripping seemed inevitable, and Sasuke found cold, rough stone cushion his forehead, as he fell forward. The door snapped shut behind him, and Kabuto was gone. Still there remained a presence in the room… It was… Orochimaru.

"Welcome, my dear Sasuke," the snake's voice slowly but surely spoke. "I hope Kabuto didn't do this too roughly… but if he didn't, you might have been able to escape.

Sasuke felt sharp pointy objects poke his arms tied behind his back and realized they were Orochimaru's fingernails. He found himself on his feet, pulled up aggressively by his teacher's hands.

"Oh, what should I ever do with that Kabuto?" Orochimaru commented, stroking the cloth wrapped around Sasuke's mouth with his slender fingers. "I never told him to gag you. He must've had quite a lot of fun with you. Of course, he could not have had nearly as much fun as I will have with you…"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"…for an eternity," Orochimaru continued in a whisper. He undid the cloth's knot, allowing Sasuke to talk. "So," the snake started. "Any final words before your mind is annihilated?"

"What?" Sasuke gasped in shock. He was going to die? After three years of training and mastering of Jutsus, never before known to him, Orochimaru was going to kill him. "B-but why?" He felt tears sting his eyes as he regretted never killing his brother, never telling Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura how important they were to him. How could this happen?

"Because you've outgrown your usefulness as a person to me."

"But I'm so much stronger now…" Sasuke argued. He was so confused, so flustered for the first time of his life. He wondered if this was just one of Orochimaru's tricks in order to help his training.

"Oh, yes, I know," Orochimaru chuckled. "You have become very powerful, and I would love to add that power to my own. But no matter how much I try, I will never trust you… I can trust no one, so instead of adding your power I will combine it with mine. The only one to take the fall here is…" He let out a small laugh. "Well, you."

Sasuke shook his head as a result of not believing any of this. "But… my brother…"

"No worries, Sasuke. I can kill him for you because I myself have a thing against him. I'll make sure that part of your destiny is completed."

The Uchiha started to struggle but to no avail. Kabuto had tied his arms too tightly to get away… not that he _could_ get away from Orochimaru.

"Calm down, dear boy," the snake reassured, putting a hand on Sasuke's sweaty brow. "I can't guarantee it will be painless, but I'll be sure to make it quick."

Sasuke's struggles became desperate now. "No!" he screamed. His cheeks became wet with tears.

"Stop acting like a helpless child... even though that is what you are." Orochimaru's breathed a word Sasuke couldn't make out due to his terrible fear and frustration. Then Sasuke felt as though he just… disappeared.

XXX

A/N: Yeah!! My first chapter of my first Naruto fic. Hehe. Hope y'all enjoyed because this was very exciting to write. The chapter will get longer as I continue, so no worries… and Sasuke is SOOOOOOO my favorite character. Like I would allow him to die :-P lol

Sasuke might have been a little OOC at the end of this fic, but… seriously ppl, how would you feel? Huh? Huh:-P and besides that, he does act that way when Itachi kind of… "tortures" him and stuff, so… I have my reasons, but you can have your opinions. So again, review if you have the time :-D


	2. Not Yet

A/N: Okay… maybe this chapter didn't get longer, it got shorter… but the first 4 or 5 chapters are always like that for me… I promise it will get longer. winks anyway, thank you Magnafan for reviewing and thank you Dark Austral for alerting and reviewing. You're both awesome!!! So enjoy… and no worries, part 1 is gonna be shorter than part 2 and 3 unlike in my other story (coughDarknessWithincough). Yeah… I'm not as good as Steven King to drag this out for THAT long. :-P lol. Now read and if you have any time where you can't think of what to do... reviewing is always an option (just yesterday I felt bad for someone with 0 reviews, was bored, and reviewed them. It felt so great. :-D but I'm a little insane.) have fun…

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Chapter 2 – Not Yet

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He couldn't remember what happened. All Sasuke knew was that the snake Orochimaru had performed a jutsu… and afterwards all of his senses disappeared.

Sasuke hated to admit it, but he was terrified, more so than he had when Orochimaru had tried to kill him. . . . wait. . . Orochimaru tried to _kill_ him?! Memories came flooding back as a waterfall would slide off the cliffs of a mountain. He remembered what had occurred, and a thought struck him right across the face.

Was _this_ the afterlife?

Not seeing, not touching, not smelling. . . no _awareness_ in general. It was an awful revelation, almost unbearable. If he still had his body and face, Sasuke knew he would feel fresh tears come to his eyes. But now he only had his soul.

Suddenly he felt something, as though his body was still in reach. He lunged out for it, and felt his senses returning intact. Opening his eyes slowly, Sasuke saw the usual darkness of the place in which he had trained with Orochimaru for three years. It was the Sound Village. . . Sasuke realized he was laid out on a strangely comfortable bed.

He felt overjoyed that he still lived, still breathed, and could still be aware of his surroundings, but. . . it did not last for long. He heard a hissing voice inside of his head at that moment.

"Enjoying yourself, Sasuke?" the sound rang in his ears.

Then instantly, Sasuke felt a major headache, which later explained the reason his mind was seemingly being forced back. Sasuke fought it at first, but it was too powerful, as if he was fighting against himself. But he realized suddenly what Orochimaru had done with that Jutsu he had used. . . the snake had taken over Sasuke's body, and most of his mind.

Then Sasuke was stuck in that nothingness again, Orochimaru, holding him back, not allowing any escape. It wasn't black or dark in that place, but it wasn't bright or white either. It was nothing.

The only spark of light remaining was Orochimaru's mental sneer at Sasuke's new home.

XXX

Sasuke didn't know how long it had been—there was no sense of time anyway—and neither did he know for what Orochimaru was using his body. He imagined Kakashi-sensei's training._  
_

_"I'm glad you came," Kakashi said as he swung himself up over the cliff he had been climbing moments before. Sasuke stood there, silently waiting for Kakashi's promised training. "Well, I promised you some training, didn't I?"_

_Sasuke nodded. "What will you teach me?"_

_"You remember that Jutsu I used against the Demon of the Hidden mist?" Kakashi asked._

_"Yes, I remember it well," Sasuke replied. "It's Chidori."_

_Kakashi's eyes smiled—Sasuke couldn't see if his mouth, hidden under the mask, was smiling too. "That's your answer right there, then," the jounnin explained._

_"You'd teach me that?" Sasuke asked surprised._

_Kakashi nodded pleasantly. "It's a neat trick. We'll see if you can do it a first time, and then we'll go from there. Don't pressure yourself."_

Orochimaru hadn't been nearly as willing to move along his student's pace as Kakashi had, and now Sasuke wasn't even sure if he made the right decision in leaving the Leaf Village. _No_, Sasuke told himself. _I had to beat my brother, it was the only way_.

Before he could fully commit himself to that thought, however, Naruto's cheerful face popped in his head, followed by Sakura.

_He had just gotten out of the hospital and was standing in an abandoned road with Naruto and Sakura. He was facing the other direction while Sakura was looking at him, and Naruto was looking at Sakura._

_"So. . . Sasuke. . ." Naruto started as he slowly pulled his eyes off Sakura._

_"What?" Sasuke asked coldly._

_Naruto smiled. "You learned a new Jutsu, didn't you, Sasuke? Chidori, right?"_

_"Yeah, so…"_

_"So," Naruto explained emphasizing the word "so," "you want to test it out against my Rasengan? See who's is better?"_

_"No," Sakura scolded. "Neither the Rasengan nor Chidori is a toy. You shouldn't do that."_

_Sasuke started to stride away._

_"Where are you going, scardy-cat?" Naruto demanded._

_"To practice. I have to get good enough to defeat Itachi."_

_Naruto ran up to him and blocked his path. "Oh, no you don't!" he protested. "Why do you want revenge so bad? Why is it so important? It seems that now you're acting like he's the only one in your life. Don't your friends mean anything to you anymore?"_

_Sasuke ignored him, pushed him out of the way, and continued down the path._

_This time Sakura tried to stop him. "Sasuke. . . Naruto's right. We won't have much time together these days. We should be with each other while we can."_

_Sasuke paused in his rhythmic steps. "Sakura. You're being annoying again," he said, and Sakura looked away sadly as Sasuke started to leave again. This time neither of them attempted to stop him._

Now Sasuke regretted how rude he was to his fellow teammates. He wished he could go back and apologize for everything, and maybe even tell them how he really felt. But all that was over. . . Orochimaru was in control of his life, his body, and even his mind. His previous days were over.

When the silence stretched on for far too long, Sasuke noted Orochimaru's emotions and thoughts. They both could know what was going on in the other's mind. Of course, Orochimaru had most likely discovered that a while ago. How else had Sasuke heard Orochimaru's voice in his head? Sasuke decided to test out the silence and ask his captor a question.

"What have you done to me?" He knew the answer already, but couldn't think of another question. The silence had destroyed Sasuke's patience already.

Sasuke felt Orochimaru, taking a long time to reply as if he savored each moment of Sasuke's torture: being alone. . . actually that part of Sasuke's imagination was probably true.

"Oh, Sasuke, I hope you've already figured it out," Orochimaru's chilling voice seeped into Sasuke's thoughts. "Otherwise, my training has done nothing for you. The real thing to question is the fact that you're still alive. I hope you are grateful for that."

Sasuke tried to glare but abruptly remembered he had no way to carry that command out to his body. Hopefully the wretched snake got the thought of his anger though. "You mean I'm supposed to be dead?"

A long moment passed as Sasuke felt Orochimaru relish in Sasuke's uncertainty.

"Precisely," the snake finally answered. "You are a wonder, Sasuke. I did not expect your mind to survive this, but trust me. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, so I hope you can make yourself comfortable. Perhaps, even have a little fun while you still desire life down there." Orochimaru's voice held a touch of sarcasm.

What was that snake saying? Of course, Sasuke wanted to live—

"Oh you won't necessarily enjoy this later on," Orochimaru, hearing Sasuke's thoughts, produced a curt interruption. "I promise you, it _will _get lonesome in that lost mind of yours." Then Orochimaru's tone became slightly and gruesomely humorous. "If you ever. . . let's just say. . . need something to do, I'm only a thought of death away. Now have fun."

With that, Sasuke felt himself barred from Orochimaru's thoughts, and knew that the evil snake would only let the walls down when Sasuke wanted to die. But Sasuke knew he did not wish for death. . . not _yet_ anyway.

The mental prison was almost similar to the chamber he occasionally was locked in, something that was supposedly done for his training. In that chamber it was pitch black and had no source of light at all. It felt similar to floating in darkness. . . no sense of anything except the cold stone floor, pressing against his pale cheek. But this mental chamber did not even have that satisfaction. There was nothing, no floor, no walls, just emptiness.

Sasuke feared his will to stay alive in order to get out of all this would soon be crushed and broken into several fragments of glass, a shell of what his mind used to be. . . deep down, he doubted he could get out of this with any sanity.

XXX

A/N: COOL!! Chapter 2 is finished. Now on to chapter # treis (sry, I had French today) which will be up maybe by… Friday or Saturday or Sunday—basically just the weekend (I actually write this out on paper first during my extremely boring math class—so stay tune!


	3. Shattered

A/N: Hi, peoples. :-D How's things going? I know I've already PMed most of you and thanked you on a personal level, but here's a public level (lol) in the order of first to do it to last… or somethin' like that :-P —

Reviewers:

Magnafan (1 chapter)

Dark Austral (2 chapters)

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Favorites Users: (nice name huh:-P):

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Alert System Users:

Dark Austral

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— Every time I do this, I feel like it's the lottery winners or something. LOL. Anyway, I think I checked on everyone's profile on that list, and chose a story to start reading. I found some really good ones from all of you, too. :-D But right now, I'm still in the process of reading them, so bear with me. You'll see my review on one of your stories pop up sooner or later (and BTW, I'm not reading them just to thank you, a lot of them are things I believe I'll enjoy, so this isn't like a bribe or anything… it's just meeting new people.) Anyway, it's the moment you've all been waiting for—chapter 3!!! Have fun!!!!!

XXX

Chapter 3 – Shattered

XXX

What was it like to be floating in an envelope of emptiness? Most people never asked themselves that question, never loved their sense of sight, of sound. They took it for granted, as a charity that Sasuke no longer had.

At first he thought this new place was a dream or nightmare, a figment of his imagination. Sasuke kept waiting for the little morning light to shine in his eyes as he slowly became aware of the world around him, but that moment never came. He never found himself regaining control of his own body… and other than that, how could one dream of nothingness?

The next feeling he witnessed was shock that his present state of living was reality. Nothing could change that simple truth: He, now a nobody, was forever stuck in a nowhere… At first this phase of his emotions was overwhelming, intolerable. But Sasuke realized he had to stay calm and committed to keeping himself together in order to make it through.

He then told himself over and over, "I do not want to die." Rather sooner than later, though, he felt his will slowly fading as the moon would eventually become black. Unlike the moon, however, Sasuke knew his once desire to live was small enough, it would never wax again. . . only wane. . .

After what seemed like years of boredom—probably only seconds in reality—Sasuke became uncertain about his life. So much that by accident his previous thoughts to himself would occasionally change, "I don't want to live."

Cracks seemed to litter the barrier to Orochimaru's mind. . . Sasuke knew all too well what that meant. His hopes were shattering.

Half living, half hoping for death. . . it was becoming hard to choose one side over the other.

Suddenly he felt he had nothing, just the place in which he currently dwelled: no dreams, no desires, only the need to hear someone else's thoughts besides his own. Orochimaru. . . the only person who could help him. The only person who could speak to him.

"Orochimaru," he thought in the firmest and surest voice he could muster, "I want to die."

The walls came down… they came down! Sasuke found it unbelievable, but there they were, lowering and allowing Sasuke to sense what was beyond them. If he still had his body, he would be trembling with the simple feeling of content.

Sasuke was surprised to find that he could feel his body again. Last time he had lunged for control again, but he remembered also that last time Orochimaru had locked him back inside his mind. This time he would be careful.

First he pulled forward, one minute step at a time, toward the front of his mind. Then he allowed his soul to slowly seep into his now unfamiliar body. When he was completely in control, he tripped over his feet because he realized he was standing and couldn't keep the position. His mind was not use to the stress of controlling his legs.

Sasuke collapsed on the ground, hitting the back of his head on. . . something. . . he was too terrified to actually open his eyes and see what he fell on. A move like that could piss Orochimaru, and at the moment, was the last item on the list he wanted to try.

But he had been deprived of sight for so long, he couldn't stand not using it when he had the chance. So instead he rubbed his hand against the tiled floor and then touched his own skin. . . it felt so. . . different, unfamiliar. Then Sasuke started to hear the regular yet irregular screams in the background, but this time, instead of grimacing, he cherished the sound. Also Sasuke's sense of smell was enhanced greater than ever before. All of that, however, did not satiate his need to see.

Even if only for a moment, he desperately needed to open his eyes. Just for one split-second, he needed to taste the little light in the room, bathe in real color that had been taken from him. . . So Sasuke opened his eyes in a quick, fluid movement.

Almost instantly, he sensed Orochimaru's presence, lurking in his mind, sneering at him. "You just _had_ to open your eyes, didn't you?" the snake voice whispered. "Whatever will I do with you?"

Sasuke wasn't listening in the least, his eyes rapidly flickering in every corner of the dark room, every trivial marking on the wall, down to the last tiny detail.

This angered Orochimaru, and Sasuke knew he was in for something horrible.

"So, Sasuke," Orochimaru began, pushing Sasuke back into the corner of his mind with simple ease, "I have a question for you."

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

"Ooh, temper, eh?" Orochimaru's chuckle mentally reached Sasuke's thoughts.

"What is the question?" Sasuke repeated angrily.

A smirk. "Oh, yes, that. Do you still want to live?"

Sasuke suddenly saw visions of his past childhood when his brother was still. . .

Then he saw visions of his parents being killed, over and over. . . "Stop it!" he screamed, realizing Orochimaru was controlling what he saw in his mind. It was worse than what Itachi had done to him, for Orochimaru could sense what hurt Sasuke the most… they both shared the same mind, and knew each other's emotions.

"I asked you a question, Sasuke," was Orochimaru's next hiss after the flashing images ended in the shade of black. "_Do you want to live?_"

"I. . . don't know. . ." He felt his "imaginary body" shaking with fear.

"_Answer the question, Sasuke!_"

Silence. Fresh memories lingering in Sasuke's broken mind. Harsh images of Sasuke's past being produced by Orochimaru. Sasuke couldn't think, couldn't decide. . . suddenly Sasuke realized he _did _temporarily want death to relieve his fear, his pain. But that wasn't what horribly surprised him. It was the fact that. . . he didn't care what his answer was at all.

Orochimaru's sneer entered his mind. "Confused, are we?"

Yes, that was it. . . he was re-living his phase of being shocked at this new reality. Sasuke didn't care about was his answer was because he only desired to escape from this tangled web of confusion. A definite answer was all he wanted.

All or nothing.

Life or death.

He may have survived Orochimaru's reign over his body and most of his mind up until then, but he hadn't lived through that experience intact. His soul was now shattered. The fragments of his mind were too small to decipher into his real goals. He needed to glue the pieces back together to make his decision.

To live or die. . .

He was shattered.

XXX

A/N: There you go! Chapter 3 is finished. I hope everyone has a nice weekend. And slip a review in whenever you get bored. You won't regret it… somehow… LOL


	4. Nothing

A/N: Chapter 4!!! Yay!!!!! I hope you're all excited. . . but you might want to have yourself a good humor story ready to read after this. I mean, really it got a lot worse for Sasuke. . . And strangely enough, _I'm _a Sasuke fan. The fact I enjoy making the anime characters I love so much be tortured like this is beyond me…. It's kinda creepy. So all Sasuke fans beware, but remember I'M a Sasuke fan, and I enjoyed writing it, however creepy that may be… so don't beware too much :-P lol.

Warning: There IS a reason I rated this "T." Which is probably revealed in this chapter… I'm not sure, but the gore and stuff could get worse… so does anyone think I should change the rating to M cuz of this chapter and how it might get more gory? I'm kinda an over-rater, so I rate things high, but I have a feeling this much "mass murder" in a story shouldn't be just Rated T. Tell me what you think if you review.

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Chapter 4 – Nothing

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Sasuke had been locked up in his mind again. . . Orochimaru still allowed his prisoner to communicate with him, but Sasuke didn't care. He just wanted out. He also discovered that he could still climb into his body to see and feel everything, but only what Orochimaru saw and felt. He hadn't regained control of anything since that time at least three days ago. . . and that didn't even last for too long.

Sasuke didn't really know if he wanted his body anymore. What if he _did _get it back, but his mind couldn't handle the stress? What if he couldn't control his heartbeat or breathing anymore? But then again, living without a sense of any surroundings wasn't exactly appeasing.

Today Orochimaru was giving Sasuke the privilege to see what he was doing. Sasuke took it gratefully because these times were few.

"What do you want to see me do, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked him. "See me kill someone, watch my prisoners be tortured, what do you want? Do you even care anymore?"

Sasuke was about to say, "Shut up," back, but then he realized Orochimaru might become angry. However, the thought still reached the snake's mind, no matter how much Sasuke tried to stop it.

"I'd watch what you say if I were you. Sasuke, do you really want to get on my bad side?" Orochimaru was toying with his captive. "I assure you, I have ways of making my enemies pay. . . especially when they can hear every single thought in my head."

"It's not your head," Sasuke argued. "It's mine, so give it back."

"No, I don't think I can do that. . . even if I wanted to, there's no way to reverse the Jutsu until the three years are up, and I get to change bodies. But why would I want to switch again with a perfectly healthy body so beautiful as yours." Orochimaru's hand touched his/Sasuke's hair. "But you're hair _is_ too short. . ." Orochimaru commented. "I don't like it."

"Why do you think I care?" Sasuke shot back.

Orochimaru shrugged with Sasuke's body. Sasuke hated how he couldn't stop him from using his body, yet feel every single move Orochimaru made. "I don't know. . . I just thought maybe you wouldn't feel very happy knowing I was going to grow your hair out. But I guess you _do _have bigger worries than hair at the moment."

Sasuke finally noticed that Orochimaru was no longer in the Sound Village. . . he was with several of his followers hiding in the trees on the outskirts of another village. . . Just a regular town with no ninjas, only ordinary people.

Suddenly, Sasuke was afraid of the reason Orochimaru was letting him see all of this.

"Yes, Sasuke," Orochimaru assured cruelly. "There is a reason I am allowing you to watch. I hope you enjoy it."

Sasuke immediately tried to draw back to the corner in his mind that Orochimaru couldn't touch, but felt a solid barrier preventing him from retreating.

"There's no choice," the snake explained. "Whether you enjoy it or not, you _will_ see it. It's all part of my grand plan for you. You weren't supposed to survive my Jutsu, so I want to have a little fun."

Sasuke helplessly tried to get through the barrier but to no avail. Orochimaru had him locked in. He couldn't even close his eyes because Orochimaru was in control. He was thrashing around, in his head, struggling to escape.

Orochimaru used his body to sigh. "You, _child_. Don't you realize this would be what you call a temper-tantrum?" he told Sasuke in his mind.

"Let me back in, you snake!" Sasuke mentally screamed at him.

Orochimaru's chuckle flooded through Sasuke's thoughts. "No," he stated simply.

Sasuke sent back a mental glare. "I. _Hate_. You."

"Hmm, I wonder why," Orochimaru teased. "Just consider this day a part of my previous training for you."

Then Sasuke found himself unable to stop turning his head to the side. He saw Kabuto, the one who had tied him up and gave Orochimaru the chance to perform the Jutsu in the first place. Death was the only word that came to Sasuke's mind. Smiling pleasantly, Kabuto looked back at "Sasuke"—who was actually Orochimaru—and nodded.

Suddenly Orochimaru, Kabuto, and their loyal followers made their way into the village silently. Sasuke was trying to force his mouth to scream, but Orochimaru overpowered it as usual.

"Stop being a baby," Orochimaru thought to Sasuke. "You can't stop me. You're nothing now. Understand me? You are _nothing_."

The already broken Sasuke scattered into several more pieces at his torturer's words because he knew they were right. . . he had no way to do anything now. He really _was _nothing.

Orochimaru and his followers moved silently into the town. They crept unnoticeably deeper into the city to where there were a few civilians. Except one lady, a beautiful, seemingly innocent woman, saw them, grew terrified, and started to run off to sound the alarm. Kabuto was about to thrash out and kill her, but Orochimaru stopped him and reached for a shuriken.

Sasuke tried desperately to stop him, but Orochimaru was too quick. He threw the shuriken right at her head so strongly that Sasuke watched it go straight threw to the other side. Two of the sound ninjas silently ran out and grabbed the body before any of the few civilians on the street could turn around and see.

Orochimaru stood over the body as it was set down. Sasuke saw through Orochimaru's eyes her pretty face split straight in half from the shuriken. Orochimaru bent over and pulled the weapon out of her head, revealing a gaping whole which erased her previous beauty.

Sasuke tasted blood as Orochimaru licked the shuriken with Sasuke's own tongue. A triumphant sneer intruded Sasuke's thoughts as he tried to puke from what had just occurred… of course, having no control over his body to do so.

"Why are you making me see this?" Sasuke demanded angrily. "What good will it do you?"

"As I said before, since you are still alive, I want to make the best out of it," Orochimaru supplied. "You know what that means, don't you, Sasuke? I want you to feel terror. Remember how you wanted to die. . . I was never going to spare you of your misery, never going to once and for all, kill you. I was going to make everything worse for you."

"But why?" Sasuke couldn't understand how Orochimaru could find taste from devouring those long screams from his prisoners, relish in his victims' terror and helplessness. It was just. . . pure evil.

Orochimaru laughed mentally at Sasuke's confusion, and suddenly, the Sound ninjas were spreading across the peaceful village, killing all as they went. . . Sasuke couldn't stop watching. Orochimaru showed neither him nor the civilians even children that he slaughtered any mercy.

By the end of the day, Sasuke had felt himself lose most of his sanity. "I don't want to watch anymore!" Sasuke screamed at Orochimaru. "Please. . . let me back in. _Please_!"

Orochimaru refrained from striking the helpless old man with his sword. The old man was startled at his hesitation, but was too frightened to move.

Unknown to that man, Orochimaru was savoring Sasuke's last words. "Say that word again," he thought, Sasuke hearing him all too well. "Say please."

Sasuke was a lot of things, but dumb wasn't one of them. "Orochimaru, please let me back in," he repeated. "I'm begging you!" Sasuke was thrashing as hard as he could against the barrier holding him out of his corner, forcing him to see and sense everything Orochimaru could.

"Very good," Orochimaru sarcastically complimented. Then he stabbed the man that had been paralyzed with fear as Sasuke's and Orochimaru's thoughts conversed. Blood splattered all across Sasuke's and Orochimaru's face. The old man had been cut through the head, apparently Orochimaru's favorite place on the body to destroy.

Sasuke mentally screamed as loud as he could.

"You child, Sasuke! I did not expect you to break so easily!" Orochimaru countered, speaking with Sasuke's own mouth. "I can hardly put up with this noise anymore."

The barrier lowered, compliments to Orochimaru, and Sasuke lunged back in, mentally sobbing at how much blood had been left on his hands today. _His_ hands. . . even though he had not done anything. Orochimaru had killed using _his_, _Sasuke's_ body, but Sasuke still couldn't erase his guilt on not being able to stop his own body. The images of Orochimaru's mass murders would never fade from Sasuke's memories.

A smirk passed gently from Orochimaru to Sasuke. "Remember, Sasuke. You are nothing," he told the broken boy in a sing-song voice.

Sasuke felt his mind, shaking with fear and helplessness. . . and tears.

XXX

A/N: Yeah… kinda rude of me to write about my favorite Naruto character of all time like that…. But I'm a creepy person. All my favorite characters get tortured like that one way or another… So anyway, do you think the rating should go up since it might get worse in later chapters? Let me know.

Btw, I am also planning on writing a sequel to this, so, Sasuke fans, don't worry too much. The sequel will be a lot nicer on Sasuke than this is, once I actually finish writing this one :D Naruto's gonna be in it ;-)


	5. Standing Strong

A/N: I'm getting carried away. . . as usual. LOL. But something everyone here should know. . . I forgot the disclaimer. I just realized that. So. . . does anyone mind if it's placed here instead? I'm too lazy to put it in the actual first chapter so here it is:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters (LOL, Naruto IS a character :-P) and I don't really care if people steal this idea or my own original characters (since I don't plan on naming any of them :-P lol), so yeah. Go right ahead.

A/N Continued: Okay, I just realized I was too soft to get more gory, so. . . no more worries on that. There is a little swearing though. I also changed my mind because I realized I liked dragging things out xD so maybe part 1 will be decently long. :-D We'll have to see. xD

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Chapter 5 – Standing Strong

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_Come on, Sasuke_, the ex-ninja told himself. _Pull yourself together_! Sasuke had thought the same thing so many times that now he could actually believe it. Before, he had been losing control over himself. He had nearly gone insane. Of course, who wouldn't when they were unable to actually _do _anything for days except wallow in regret over previous crimes?

But Sasuke regained his calm just in the knack of time. He had recovered his sanity from the depths of a simple feeling of action: the action of planning. He _would_ get out of this.

First, Sasuke built a mental shield for his mind, so, when he needed it, Orochimaru would never be able to hear his personal thoughts. Orochimaru could torture Sasuke all he wanted with images from either of their pasts, but the Uchiha wouldn't let him into his mind completely. . . He promised himself that, and he would never break that promise. He needed just one thing that was his and his alone. . . his thoughts. The knowledge he could still own things and protect them had returned his sense of control as well.

Now he needed to discover a counter attack for this "soul transfer" Jutsu, Orochimaru had used. After tons of endless thinking, Sasuke decided first he had to know the works of the Jutsu exactly, and then he would be ready to find the path out of this wretched corner, this prison of his mind. He would be ready to finally fight back.

But discovering the Jutsu would require Orochimaru's memories, something Sasuke feared he did not have. . . yet. . . He could attempt to look through his captor's mind to find the answers, but. . . what if Orochimaru detected him? And locked him out of his lonely yet precious corner again?

Sasuke did not desire a repeat of what had happened last time. That could lead to his final plunge to insanity, for Orochimaru could show Sasuke anything he wanted, once Sasuke was witnessing his surroundings. And Sasuke also knew that that power would give simple ease to the task of inflicting fear and confusion.

"What are you hiding down there, Sasuke?" asked Orochimaru, who was sensing Sasuke's wall, blocking his mind. "Trying to escape? I assure you, there is no possible way."

"Shut your ass up," Sasuke yelled back irritably. He was trying to decide the best course of action, and Orochimaru wasn't helping by interrupting Sasuke's thoughts.

"But, Sasuke, I thought for sure you would want to listen to what I am about to find out," Orochimaru continued, ignoring Sasuke's unexpected curse. For all he knew, his prisoner had gone crazy. . . but now Orochimaru noticed he seemed to be calm again.

"I don't really care at the moment," Sasuke stated.

"I think you will," Orochimaru said. "It's not that I _must _do what I am about to do right _now_, so take your time in coming out. . . I'm sure you'll need it." His chuckle gently eased through Sasuke's wall, something that the Uchiha couldn't prevent from getting through.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt Orochimaru giving him space in his mind. . . and space in his body. . . he could witness all that Orochimaru was doing if he wanted it. But Sasuke knew Orochimaru wouldn't show what he wanted to show unless Sasuke was out and watching.

He wanted awareness again so badly. He had seen nothing for only a day, but the longer he was stuck in his mind the longer time seemed to past. Each moment he regained at least part of his body, time passed slower afterward. It was similar to an addiction. . .

Several minutes ticked by with Orochimaru never letting down Sasuke's opportunity. He was patient, Sasuke gave the snake _that_ much. . . but how long would he wait? Sasuke was terrified to take the obvious trap, which now acted as his tormenter _and_ his savior. He feared it yet needed it. The pressure to take this chance weighed down until he needed to make a decision.

Sasuke crept out, believing he might be able to discover more about the Jutsu Orochimaru had used in this way. He was terrified to go completely out and kept part of his mind safe in his corner. But reaching his body without that part of his mind was impossible, so he slowly inched out completely.

The moment Sasuke was clear of his only corner was the moment he was locked out into his body. The goal that Sasuke strongly desired to achieve now became his torture. He knew Orochimaru had something nasty planned for him.

"Good, Sasuke, good," Orochimaru praised as one would praise a dog. "You still have courage, I see. . . or maybe it's just your dying need to witness what I do with your body. But don't worry, I don't have any murder or torture planned for anyone besides you today. Maybe tomorrow, but I think you'll enjoy this so much more."

Sasuke saw Orochimaru striding through a door to a cell. . . one of the many chambers of the basement where Orochimaru kept his prisoners.

"I thought you said—"

"I know what I said." Orochimaru was now looking at a young female who looked badly injured. "Yes," Orochimaru continued thinking to Sasuke. "She was in no shape to torture when we brought her here. She still isn't."

Sasuke flinched at the disappointment in Orochimaru's voice. "So you didn't do this to her?" he asked his captor, surprised.

"I actually didn't, believe it or not. My followers _saved _her. . . from the village under attack by a group you know all too well." Orochimaru took a step toward the woman who was barely younger than Sasuke was now. Her brown hair, sticky with sweat, stuck to her face and cheek and hid navy blue eyes that stared at Orochimaru with terror. Her arms were chained to the wall, not that she could do anything to harm anyone if they weren't. She seemed exhausted.

"What group?" Sasuke asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I was sure you would know this group. . . but if you don't, I assure you." Orochimaru's sneer passed swiftly. "You _will_ find out."

The irritated Sasuke waited for Orochimaru to continue his "evil deed." And Orochimaru sensed the ex-ninja's impatience.

"You need to learn how to wait," Orochimaru commented dryly to Sasuke. "I thought you must have learned that lesson already from that loneliness you must endure in your mind."

"Just get on with it!" Sasuke yelled back, which earned him a quick thought of a smirk back.

"I will," Orochimaru said calmly.

The girl looked very frightened now that Orochimaru had just been standing there, not talking but smiling, for several minutes. "What do you want with me?" she asked angrily despite being afraid.

"I want to know what your village knows about the Akatsuki," Orochimaru answered smugly. "They attacked your people, didn't they? What were they after?"

"Akatsuki?" Sasuke asked Orochimaru but received no reply. He wished he knew what it was. . .

"I-I don't know," the girl answered fearfully. She never met Orochimaru's eyes from the moment he asked.

"You are lying," he said. "You know something that was happening at the same time in your village. What were they after?" he repeated. She still remained quiet. "You will tell me whether you want to or not," Orochimaru urged firmly.

Sasuke knew full well there was no way he could force the answer out of her in the current state she was in. . . but the girl didn't know that and automatically became scared. "I. . ." she started.

"You know, we did save your life when your village was attacked by the Akatsuki," Orochimaru said. "This is your chance to repay us. . . and I might let you live."

"N-Naruto was in my village!" she exclaimed. . . "I believe the Akatsuki were after Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke's thoughts twitched in surprise at the mention of Naruto. . . his closest friend.

"Ah, I see." Orochimaru hid it well on his face, but Sasuke could sense his mind prickling with excitement. "I have another question for you. I want to know information on a certain member of the Akatsuki."

Sasuke grew annoyed each time the word "Akatsuki" was mentioned. "What is that?" he mentally asked Orochimaru. . . he still got no answer.

"Who? Which member?" the girl asked. She acted much calmer, now that she thought Orochimaru meant no harm to her. Something Sasuke knew was wrong. Orochimaru would kill her, once he exhausted all of her uses. He could feel the desire of murder in Orochimaru's mind clearly, and the extremity of it was frightening in and of itself.

"I want to know more to his whereabouts." Orochimaru was speaking pleasantly, but inside was trembling with a type of need Sasuke could not make out clearly. "I know he personally attacked your village himself with his partner. . . Of course, at first he tried to do it secretly, but your village seemed to recognize him quite well, and at once, attacked. How did you instantly know he was a threat?"

"Who?" the girl repeated again. She was faking it now, but she seemed to be stalling, to Sasuke's great benefit. If she didn't pretend to not know who it was, Sasuke would never discover the truth either.

"The member of the Akatsuki I want to know about. His name is. . ." Orochimaru paused to annoy Sasuke even more. "Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke was frozen as Orochimaru said that. He heard more words being spoken between his captor and the girl, but couldn't comprehend them. He felt similar to a baby, born unable to understand anything and too shocked to think intelligently. By the time he regained his sense of his surroundings, Orochimaru had walked out of the chamber, gloating at Sasuke's shock.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked although he knew exactly what the answer was.

But Sasuke wasn't listening. His anger had boiled up to a point so high it could've burned fire itself. "_I'll kill you!_" he mentally screamed before pounding against Orochimaru's mind with his own, his full intent to crush and destroy the snake's mind. Sighing with boredom, Orochimaru, seemingly prepared for this, pulled up a previously hidden wall of defense. Sasuke felt himself easily pushed back into his corner and locked inside again.

But Sasuke was too angry to care. If Orochimaru lifted a finger to hurt Itachi, then Sasuke would. . . he didn't know _what _he would do, but he promised himself that only _he _would be the one to kill his brother. Sasuke would do anything before "allowing" Orochimaru to steal his one dream.

"You won't touch him!" Sasuke exclaimed. "He's mine, I need to kill him myself! Leave him alone!"

Orochimaru's sarcasm reached Sasuke's mind. "Sasuke, you are _so_ nice to have around. But how in the world would you be able to kill him anyway in your current state? You have no body and even if you did, your skills against your brother are pathetic."

"Just shut u-up. . ." Sasuke tried to yell but his mind broke down at that one moment. Feeling vulnerable, he pulled up the mental barrier he had constructed a while ago to hide his misery from Orochimaru.

He felt his mind crying again. . . he could only tell because of that head ache people would get every time they cried or when they tried to hide their tears. After a few minutes, the head ache hurt more than ever. He hated himself for being so weak. . . how could he even _dream_ of killing Itachi when he was _crying _like a baby? He thought he was long over his crying since the week after his clan had been massacred, so at that moment he promised himself he would never cry again, no matter what Orochimaru did or said to him. Sasuke decided to start planning again. The faster he got in control of his body, the easier he could prevent his captor from taking away his last dream.

He resorted to the thought that always returned his stability. _I _will _get out of this._

XXX

A/N: Just a little piece of knowledge for current readers…. None of my OC's are actually gonna be named in this particular story, so there can't possibly be a way for them to be called Sues unless you're really picky. . . but if you must, flames are definitely welcome. So are regular reviews. . . Yeah I love all reviews, thank you for all of them, btw. LOL. :-) You are all the most awesome people ever :-D Thank you.


	6. Intrusion

A/N: BTW, in this story, the parts sorta merge together. I just decided the plot in three different sections, so I call them "parts," even though they're all kinda continuous. Anyway, special thanks to Kaira-chan15, Dark Austral, and Magnafan. Now go ahead and enjoy.

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Part 2 – The Secret

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Chapter 6 – Intrusion

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Seconds were becoming difficult to overcome. Sasuke wasn't calm anymore. . . normally he would compose himself with deep breaths, but at the moment that technique was impossible, of course. So instead, he counted in his mind to a hundred, then five hundred, and finally one thousand as the numbers gradually eased his mind back into stability. Sasuke knew the idea of counting had been silly, but there wasn't much else he could do right then. Plus, it had worked to calm himself anyway.

At first, he believed Orochimaru could, right then, be killing his brother Itachi. But he suddenly realized that Orochimaru would never steal Sasuke's dream until the Uchiha himself was watching. That was how the snake worked, Sasuke realized, never doing anything without Sasuke's careful watch unless it wouldn't hurt him in anyway, everything shown to Sasuke having a purpose.

This was when Sasuke made the vow never to oversee Orochimaru's doings again. He didn't need to know, and he didn't want to know. Simple as that. Orochimaru couldn't hurt him with this method anymore. But, of course, that would never stop Orochimaru from trying. . .

"Sasuke, would you like to come out to your body again? I promise, I won't do anything that will particularly anger you."

Sasuke rolled his "eyes." "Yeah right."

Orochimaru didn't show that he cared. "Just thought I might say that you are welcome to. . ."

Sasuke knew Orochimaru by now. He could lie easily, he could deceive and manipulate, but the Uchiha wouldn't fall for it anymore. Interestingly Orochimaru never let down Sasuke's chance to crawl out but at the same time didn't seem to care what Sasuke was doing or thinking.

Sasuke suddenly sprung up the wall to block his thoughts, and realized Orochimaru didn't even notice. Otherwise, Sasuke would've sensed his thoughts immediately turning to him.

_This is my chance_, Sasuke thought as he crept out of his corner. But this time he went a different way. . . not toward his body, but toward Orochimaru's actual mind.

The corridors were full of memories, littered with spider webs and dust. . . Orochimaru was old, or, at least, much older than Sasuke. He desperately hoped for Orochimaru not to communicate with him any time soon, for the depths of memories, covering a vast yet crammed space, would take a long time to search.

Having no where else to start, Sasuke chose to search the memories later on in Orochimaru's life, in which his captor had joined a Gennin team. . .

"_Hehe, Jiraiya, looks like you'll have to sit there, tied to the post, while_ we _get to eat lunch," a blonde girl teased, gesturing to Sasuke, who suddenly realized he was seeing from Orochimaru's perspective. . . a familiarity Sasuke didn't like at all. He also saw a white-haired boy whom the blonde one called Jiraiya. In a way, Jiraiya reminded him of Naruto, tied to a stump while the other two remained free. And the blonde one already looked like she had huge mood swings. . . like Sakura had._

So pitiful, _Sasuke heard Orochimaru think._ They let ninja with absolutely no talent graduate from the Academy. It is impossible for this kid to ever be a great ninja.

_Sasuke was surprised at hearing Orochimaru's thoughts in the memory, but wasn't able to move and react. . . just like where he was stuck now. Sasuke decided looking through memories was going to be strenuous for his mental stability because it was so similar to his current position._

_The one named Jiraiya, paying no attention to the girl who continued to tease him, was struggling against the rope, binding him, as he glared at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru! I'll get you someday! You watch me!"_

Orochimaru remained impassive, but that wasn't the part that scared Sasuke. It was the terrifying fact that Sasuke felt so comfortable in Orochimaru's personality. It was almost natural to smirk as Orochimaru sneered in the actual memory.

He's just like me, _Sasuke realized. Becoming scared of his own personality, Sasuke was abruptly saved by Orochimaru's next thought_.

How I long to kill that awful boy. I can't wait until I have that opportunity, _Orochimaru said to himself so calmly that Sasuke decided he_ couldn't _be like that. He never desired to _kill_ anyone except his brother (which Sasuke knew didn't count). The simplicity of murder which came to Orochimaru so easily and at such a young age was, in the least, frightening._

_But then he remembered his revelation that Jiraiya was just like Naruto and the blonde girl in this memory was strangely similar to Sakura. . . which left him, Sasuke. . . and Orochimaru. . ._

_As the three—rather the two joined by Orochimaru's stoic, impassive personality—conversed, Sasuke decided this wasn't a memory he needed to see. Orochimaru had no thoughts of planning a Jutsu for immortality in that memory. If he had started to create the Jutsu, Sasuke knew he must've been thinking about it at all times_

The Uchiha left he memory and glanced through the other memories in chronological order, looking for points of interest. Sasuke found a particular, captivating memory not because it was about the Jutsu, but because it oddly reminded him of himself. . . Orochimaru had left the Leaf Village as a rogue ninja almost at the exact same time Sasuke himself had left.

_Just like me,_ his previous thoughts rushed back to him like a fast-moving river.

_No!_ Sasuke yelled at himself. _I'm_ not _like him! He's evil. . . he thinks of death like it's nothing!_ But the reaction and argument to his own thoughts had triggered Orochimaru's notice. . . and his presence washed over Sasuke's mind abruptly.

"Sasuke! What in the _world_ are you doing?" Orochimaru demanded. He seemed angrier than Sasuke had ever witnessed before. The only thing Sasuke couldn't understand was the reason to Orochimaru's sudden reproach. All he did was look through his captor's memories.

"I-I. . ." Sasuke trailed off, not sure what to say.

"You _will_ tell me." Orochimaru waited for Sasuke's consent. "Right now," he also added when Sasuke refused to answer.

Sasuke started to pull himself back to hide in his corner, but Orochimaru locked him out again. Sasuke tried the last defense he had: the wall blocking his own thoughts. . . It was harder to hold since he was already in Orochimaru's own mind. Not to mention, Orochimaru was fighting to demolish the wall himself.

"Sasuke Uchiha! You won't hide from me," Orochimaru said, still overwhelming Sasuke with intolerable force. "I _will_ get in."

For the first time in days, maybe even weeks now, Sasuke felt like smiling. Actually he realized this was the first time since his childhood that he desired to smile. . . Orochimaru was angry and fighting to get in Sasuke's mind; yes, the thought that the snake could get angry at all brought immense satisfaction. But Sasuke was actually _smiling_ because during the first few days of his "nothingness," he couldn't hide anything, was stripped down to his last emotion and thought, deep within his heart. Orochimaru received what he wanted without a single fight back, but now. . . _Now_, even if his captor managed to get in, Sasuke still would be extremely happy at the fact he could still fight back against his captor.

"Let me in, Sasuke!" Orochimaru commanded angrily.

Sasuke kept silent.

"_Now_!"

Still, Sasuke refused to respond.

"Sasuke, if you don't let me in right now, you will regret it when I do come in by force." Orochimaru was resorting to making threats, a technique to which Sasuke would not succumb. If anything, it only gave him a greater amount of his smug satisfaction.

But Sasuke did reply this time. "If you think you really _can_ get in, then why haven't you already?"

Now Orochimaru was insanely angry. Sasuke had crossed the line, to put it simply. A huge bang, Sasuke's shattered wall, and then Orochimaru's intrusion. . . Orochimaru was not nice when he broke in. In short, it was a painful and uncomfortable experience for Sasuke. Orochimaru was almost literally ripping memories and thoughts from Sasuke's mind and searching ruthlessly for what Sasuke had done.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was also giving his prisoner images from both of their pasts. . . the snake's attack on the peaceful village, which nearly broke Sasuke, the interrogation on Itachi's location, so Orochimaru would be able to kill him eventually. Sasuke had already gotten over those though, so Orochimaru resorted to his favorite: the massacre of the entire Uchiha clan. As always, Sasuke hated himself for his weakness that he still had now. But this time he didn't fight it, he didn't beg for Orochimaru to stop, he simply let it pass.

Finally the images subsided and all that was left in his thoughts was stillness. Orochimaru must've found what he wanted, for his exaggerated anger transformed into a maniacal laugh.

"Ah, so this is what you've been hiding from me? This entire time you've so desperately hidden only a simple plan to escape?" Orochimaru spoke as he chuckled. "That's too bad because. . . well, I already told you. There's no way you can get out. Even if there was a way that I had no knowledge about, you'd still have to wait the three years to try it."

Sasuke grew irritated and attempted to ignore Orochimaru.

"Silly, _boy_," the snake scolded. Then he became sarcastic. "Poor, Sasuke. Unable to believe that we're stuck together for, at the least, three years." Finally his tone became a little angry again. "But one thing before I let this go. If I ever find you creeping through my memories again, you will regret it until the day you die."

"Why?" Sasuke countered, amused. "What are _you_ hiding from _me_?"

Orochimaru, who was about to open the wall, locking Sasuke out of his corner, hesitated. "I'm forgiving you, Sasuke. If I were you, I wouldn't be teasing. . . I can always change my mind, by the way. In other words, _don't do this again_." With that said, Orochimaru lifted the wall, and forced Sasuke back in, locking it once again.

Well, Sasuke had found out one thing: Orochimaru had secrets. . . and that meant the Uchiha had a chance to escape. Orochimaru might very well be lying about being able to overcome the Jutsu, and there could be a well-explained way to counter it in his tormentor's memories. Just maybe. . . _that_ was the secret Orochimaru wanted to hide.

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A/N: I'm not very talkative today… I can't think of anything to say. Oh well… As always, if you want, review please :-D other than that, I'll remain speechless… no seriously. I think this is the shortest A/N I've ever done. :-S


	7. The Trap

A/N: I'm depressed. . . I read the manga a few days ago and. . . sobs this story has nothing to do with anything, now that I know what happens, but guess what?! I'm not gonna listen to the manga and just finish this anyway gets over depression SO THERE! LOL, yeah, I'll still even write the sequel after this is done. It sounds SOOO fun to write. So anyway, thx for reviews, and enjoy now :D

Warning: The following scenes include a "character death". . . kind of. . . actually no one except me should have any idea whether this character dies or not because if Sasuke doesn't even remember, then why should you remember:-P lol. Just beware if you don't even like "possible" character deaths, but DO like full-fledged character deaths like when they're strangled :-P lol, however that could work. Oo unless your crazy like me.

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Chapter 7 – The Trap

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Orochimaru now kept one eye at all times on Sasuke. His thoughts were always focused on what Sasuke was doing in his head. Of course, that didn't stop the Uchiha from planning. This experience had taught him patience, waiting for that one moment when his captor's guard lowered.

Last time, Sasuke had invaded Orochimaru's memories without any type of plan. He had acted out of impatience and hastily searched, oblivious to the fact at Orochimaru's vast space of memory. Now he had focused on where he would search next time he got in, which acted as a way to pass the time, filled with Orochimaru's constant watch.

Sasuke remembered the memory of Orochimaru becoming a rogue ninja, and he remembered its location. The second time he searched Orochimaru's mind would be different because Sasuke knew exactly where to search: directly after the memory of Orochimaru's betraying of the village.

Of course, as he thought of this, the Uchiha's wall was blocking his thoughts. He had been coerced to rebuild his only defense after Orochimaru demolished it, and now somewhat sensed his captor's occasional desires to tear it down again, thus, also annihilating Sasuke's confidence.

Sasuke's thoughts suddenly turned to Naruto. . . Sakura. . . and Kakashi-sensei. The only people how, at the very least, _pretended_ to understand him. _Why did I betray them?_ Sasuke asked himself angrily.

_Because of your brother! Do you even_ need _an answer to that question?! _

_But. . ._ Sasuke thought of Naruto, who had become almost like a brother to him. . . well, most anyone could beat Itachi at brotherly kindness any day of the week, but the blonde-Uzumaki kid was more than just anyone; he was great at being a brother, despite the truth that Naruto never had a family.

_You only have_ one _brother, Sasuke,_ he yelled at himself. _And he betrayed you! Who's to say Naruto won't do the same?_

It was true. . . his trust had been broke so many times by precious friends that he never thought would betray him. This truth stabbed at him until he couldn't take him anymore. _Just. . . just s-stop_, Sasuke thought. He didn't know what he wanted most anymore. Confusion overwhelmed his emotions, and he couldn't choose what he desired after he got out of this wretched prison of his mind. . . wait. . . That was it! He had to find a way out _before_ he could argue with himself. He had to deal with this one part at a time.

Suddenly Orochimaru's mind drifted away. . . his guard was down finally. _Yes! This is it!_ Sasuke joyously crossed the boundaries of his mind and into Orochimaru's mind, but abruptly Kakashi's face popped into his head. . . and so did the first training Team Seven ever did together.

"_If the bait is obvious," a bored Kakashi-sensei had said to Naruto, "don't take it."_ Immediately Sasuke tried to draw back into his corner, but found he was trapped in Orochimaru's head. . . _again_! The Uchiha had realized his mistake a second too late. How could he have fallen for a trap even Naruto had eventually learned to avoid?

An incredible force pushed Sasuke into awareness of his body again. He attempted to fight it, but Orochimaru was just too strong, held control of too much of Sasuke's mind. It was as if the ex-ninja was fighting a bigger half of himself.

"Welcome back, Sasuke. You're just in time," the snake greeted mentally.

Sasuke's habit of trying to close his eyes, once again, failed. "No! You can't make me watch, Orochimaru!"

"Oh, yes, I _can_," his tormentor stated, craving Sasuke's struggles. "You're stuck now, you'll have to watch."

The Uchiha noted he was looking through the branches of bushes at a man in the clearing of the forest, speaking to another person with a long sword. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could also see Kabuto, ready for Orochimaru's signal. They looked ready to pounce, ready to. . . attack. . .

_Why is he showing me this?_ Sasuke asked himself fearfully.

But then, Sasuke immediately looked back at the two men in the clearing. One had blackish-brown hair and the other strangely resembled a shark with gills. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds. . . wait. . . one of them was a shark? . . . he remembered. . . That one was Kisame and the other man was. . .

"I hope you enjoy this," Orochimaru told his prisoner. "Now that I have your eyes and your Uchiha ability, this will be a piece of cake."

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Sasuke didn't know what had occurred. He hardly remembered anything at all, even forgetting his plans to raid Orochimaru's memories. . . the events that had happened before had utterly shocked him, and he could barely even think. The things he had seen had torn the Uchiha apart.

Orochimaru was greatly pleased with his prisoner's confusion. He completely left Sasuke alone, not even worrying over Sasuke finding the "secret" in his memories. After all, Sasuke was completely devastated right as he recognized his brother through Orochimaru's eyes, even before Orochimaru had lifted a finger to harm him. Plus, the loneliness added effect to the idea that Sasuke was now nothing.

Again, the dreaded question arose in Sasuke's mind. _Do I really want to live now?_ Depressed, forgetting what had truly happened between his captor and his brother, Sasuke couldn't see things clearly.

Naruto popped into his head, once more. "Wake up, Sasuke! Don't you see now? Revenge will get you nowhere!" Even though Sasuke had just imagined Naruto's words, he still felt they were true and held an urge to argue.

"Shut up, you loser!" he yelled to "Naruto." But Sasuke knew now that revenge _would_ only leave emptiness afterwards, or, thanks to Orochimaru, before he could even accomplish it. . . Just as his teacher Kakashi-sensei had said.

Sasuke groaned as the memories consumed him. "I want to see them again, so badly!" he yelled, forgetting to lift his wall.

Orochimaru returned swiftly upon hearing Sasuke's anger. "Awe, whoever thought that Sasuke actually had a heart?" he teased sarcastically.

"Go away!" Sasuke yelled. "J-just go away. . ." His thoughts faltered, and Sasuke couldn't think of anything to say.

"_I'm_ still here, Sasuke," Orochimaru continued sarcastically. "Don't you want to be with _me_?"

"I'm with you every day of my _damn life_!" the Uchiha shouted back, quite dangerously. "_Leave me the hell alone!_" He would've brought the wall back up right then if Orochimaru hadn't been blocking it.

Orochimaru chuckled. "You need to calm down, boy. . . I'll only leave you alone, so you can sort yourself out." Finally, the snake left Sasuke's mind, but the Uchiha was too exhausted to lift the wall. Although it took, most likely, hours Sasuke somehow figured out how to finally fall asleep in his mind without having any eyes to close. Orochimaru automatically took care of his captive's breathing.

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A/N: This chapter was somewhat short. . . interesting. . . :-P lol, anyway, hope you liked it. And don't lose hope for Itachi. . . yet. . . (I hate Itachi :-( he hurt SASUKE!! Lol… remembers I'm writing a whole story on Sasuke getting emotionally hurt oh… um… _about_ that…. Lol) review if you have an undying urge. . . otherwise, I don't mind if you just don't feel like it :-( but it would make me feel great:-D


	8. Last Dream

A/N: Sorry for the late update :-( too much in the way. Everyone else updates too fast, and I gotta read their stories, too :-P lol… that's when my math class comes in handy :-P anyway…

I hope you all like this chapter!! I really appreciate the awesome reviewers!! Dark Austral (again), Kaira-chan15 (again), LostForever06 (again, I think), and LauraNeatO (thx for all three reviews they really helped), I specially thank all of you. I was afraid at the very start that this idea was so stupid, but, thanks to all of those reviews, I actually enjoyed writing this more and more!! Which normally doesn't happen, I usually like it less and less. . . :-D so thanks, you guys!! You're all awesome!! Also I should warn you, I'll be concluding this somewhere around the 10th chapter, so basically three more to go, including this one. I'm not guaranteeing that Chapter 10 is _definitely_ the end, just be warned it _will_ be somewhere close to that date. K? k. good ;-) now enjoy:-)

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Chapter 8 – Last Dream

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Orochimaru had actually fallen for it. . . Sasuke could hardly even believe it. Of course, the Uchiha was still stunned from only hours before when he had seen Itachi; he still couldn't remember anything afterward. . . but he was now in control of himself, deceiving his captor to believe that he was insane.

Now Sasuke had a chance to search Orochimaru's memory again. He also realized Orochimaru held just a smaller section of his mind as if Orochimaru was losing control of Sasuke's actions, simply focused on living. . . ever since the incident including Itachi.

Sasuke decided to modify his plan a little, and went directly to the memory with Itachi. . . he wanted—_needed_—to know what had occurred.

A deep breath mutated into a gasp as he quickly skimmed through the memory. Desiring to laugh at himself, Sasuke regretted ever doubting his brother. Orochimaru and Kabuto, completely swamped with attacks from Kisame and Itachi, had been forced to retreat when Orochimaru became wounded. . .

. . . wait. . .

The cracks in the corridors of Orochimaru's mind, the shattered walls. . . could it be that Orochimaru couldn't control his mind as wellas Sasuke's mind while he was injured? Maybe. . . the Uchiha's counter attack to Orochimaru's Jutsu could be an expansion of that idea!

He went back to the memory of Orochimaru leaving the village. Nothing there. . . Sasuke jumped ahead a few months. Still nothing. He skipped ahead another year and found a simple thought or word to someone, that was all.

"_Thanks to my experiment, I have learned a path to immortality."_

He rewound a few months, finding more and more references to Orochimaru's "immortality." Sasuke was getting there! He had almost found the supposed secret! He—

"Sasuke! Get out now!" Orochimaru's thoughts boomed.

"Make me," Sasuke retorted, continuing to ignore his captor.

Orochimaru, who would usually take advantage of Sasuke's weak points, remained dormant. The snake, Sasuke suddenly realized, _couldn't_ do anything. Orochimaru could only hope the Uchiha's fear would settle and force him to hide.

"You're such a coward," Sasuke claimed, amused. "You fight Itachi just to gain absolute power over me, and then you run away at the first chance you get, once my brother injures you too badly. Itachi is still alive, and now you can't even touch me."

Orochimaru laughed. "And what makes you think that?" he inquired.

"the smaller space you have in my mind, the inability for you to force me back in," Sasuke explained. "You're wounded, so you have less power over my body. Enough for me to gain a little control."

"That_may_ be true, but. . . I told you, there's no way out until the three years have passed. No matter how _wounded_ I become, you will still be stuck in there until I change bodies again. And that day will come when you're too old to have much of a life anymore." Orochimaru's satisfied smirk reached Sasuke's mind. "Unless. . . Unless I happen to die. But remember if I die,_you_ die."

From where he left off, Sasuke started to continued searching Orochimaru for hints of his secret. "And you want me to believe that? Coming from you? I don't think so. You've already hidden too much from me." It had been at least weeks if not months of being patient, and Sasuke was tired of waiting, tired of exhaustion itself.

"Sasuke, if you keep searching, you'll regret it," Orochimaru warned.

Ignoring the empty threat, the Uchiha contniued with his search. But unfortunately, Orochimaru, unbeknownst to Sasuke, had not formed an empty threat but a warning full of truth. Orochimaru still had one small trick up his sleeve.

Suddenly as Sasuke began to see one particular memory, the Uchiha sensed Orochimaru, as if on cue, drawing back into a tiny place in his mind._Why would he do that?_ But Sasuke soon knew the answer. . . _Someone_ had to control the rest of his mind and body. . . He felt himself sucked through the vessels of his mind like a sponge. . .

As Sasuke was forced to take over, his first reaction was shock due to the overwhelming feeling in his senses. Then he abruptly remembered the need to breathe, but, to his great unease, Sasuke discovered he didn't quite recall how to breath. The Uchiha felt himself gaspoing for breath and unable to control his lungs. The truth was that it was too much all at once, the sight of the walls, the floors, furniture, and doors. . . the sound of. . . he couldn't even differentiate the noises. . . the touch of the ground, his surroundings, almost even the air. . . smells of blood, of grime. . . Sasuke could smell even the tiniest order. And then the thought process of trying to sum it all up into one finished project took the rest of his strength. The Uchiha could only savor the fact that his body was lying in a bed, and he couldn't hurt himself by falling over his own two legs. Plus, Sasuke could feel painful wounds running down his left leg and his back. Overall, overall the experience was terribly uncomfortable. . . no, more than that. . . There was no word to describe his discontent with the situation. If he didn't remember how to breath regularly soon, he knew it. . . he was just going to _die_. . .

At that moment, Orochimaru, coming to the "rescue," drew out as Sasuke obediently seeped backwards from the control of his body and hid in his corner. The knowledge Orochimaru could coerce Sasuke into that intolerable position at any convenient time was terrifying. The Uchiha wasn't quite sure he _wanted_ his body anymore. . . Would he learn individually control again? Or would he lose his life due to the simple inability to keep command of his functions. . .

_First he pulled forward, one minute step at a time, toward the front of his mind. Then he allowed his soul to slowly seep into his now unfamiliar body. When he was completely in control, he tripped over his feet because he realized he was standing and couldn't keep the position. His mind was not use to the stress of controlling his legs._

_Sasuke collapsed on the ground, hitting the back of his head on. . . something. . ._

Sasuke remembered that day long ago. . . back then, he was simply surprised at the inability to control his legs. . . Sasuke nearly laughed at himself. _How little I knew back then._ Now he was immobile in all areas of his body, including the necessities, such as breathing.

_So much for ever killing my brother,_ Sasuke mused sadly. The only part that made him sad, however, was that he couldn't care less about his lost goal. That dream was long gone. . . He had only one dream now, and it was a simply structured one, possibly even easy to reach. . .

"What's wrong, Sasuke, dear?" Orochimaru taunted, apparently hearing Sasuke's thoughts the entire time. "Hard to believe you can't even control your own helpless body? Losing hope?"

Sasuke lifted the wall, barricading his thoughts. "I didn't know you cared so much," he countered.

"Just making sure you're in complete misery," Orochimaru remarked in a voice that suggested he was acting as host would to a guest. "I wouldn't want you to be _happy_ or anything."

Sasuke huffed at Orochimaru's last comment. As long as he had this _one_ dream. . . he would be happy enough. . . Sasuke once thought life was a given. If he died, he would just disappear, be no more. . . nothing else could happen in his former fairytales. But now the Uchiha knew that _anything_could happen. There _was_ no word, "impossible." And unfortunately he had been easy prey to losing everything that once meant something to him.

Now. . . he had only _one_ simple dream: freedom. The only life he wanted was no life at all or at least a body to fix all of the sins he had committed in the past. Revenge no longer meant the whole world to him. He only wanted the chance to do something at all. _That_ was his last and only dream. No more taking for granted, no more thinking his life was awful. . . There would always be someone worse of. Sasuke would learn to love each and every breath he could take if he ever got to that day again. He was glad to still be, at least, alive.

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A/N: Again, thanks for reviews! I hope all of you liked this chapter. Approximately two more chapters to go:D Ttyl for now though :-)


	9. A Goal and a Plan

A/N: This chapter concludes Part 2, so I hope you all like it :D (yes, Part 3 will only be one chapter, I've decided :-) sorry, Chapter 10 is the end). So…. I hope you all enjoy this and thanks for all the wonderful reviews once again. Now have fun:-)

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Chapter 9 – A Goal and a Plan

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He wasn't afraid anymore. . . Sasuke didn't care what Orochimaru forced him to see. Any way that snake could satiate his needs to torture Sasuke, or sanguinary attempts for his captor to scare his prisoner to his boots. . . no more would those sill tricks succeed.

To live or die. . . the Uchiha found his contemplations on that topick again. But somehow, it wasn't the same. He could remember himself at the start of this mess. . . terrified, ferocious, depressed, confused. . . naïve. . . Now he felt older. . . content, mature, understanding, in acceptance.

If there _was _no secret at all, lost in Orochimaru's memories, then that was it, no way out. He could accept that. But that wasn't to say he wouldn't keep trying. If there was no escape from death, he would die, but he _would _fight to his last breath to live.

Sasuke could sense Orochimaru's frustration over his prisoner's sudden stability. The Uchiha felt amused at his captor's anger and that he could become such an annoyance to Orochimaru. After all, when did Orochimaru every grow angry rather than taunt?

"Sasuke, would you like to come out into your body now?" Orochimaru asked, a touch of fury, mixed with teasing, in his voice. "I promise I won't force you to control any of your body."

"Sure. Why not?" Sasuke replied, amused. He figured the more he felt his body when the time came—_if_ the time came. Plus, he wasn't downright terrified of pointless threats or half-truths anymore.

Orochimaru seemed somewhat angry at Sasuke's sudden arrogance and willingness, which was now out of his control. Sasuke kenw very well how Orochimaru particularly loathed losing his influence in people's minds. . . quite literally in this case. But still, his captor allowed Sasuke to enter as Sasuke concentrated on feeling his senses return to him. He focused on feeling what Orochimaru touched, be it merely his captor's shoes pressing against the cold stone floor, or the Sound ninja cloak draped on his shoulders.

_If only I could practice breathing_, Sasuke wished as he could only feel the rhythm of Orochimaru's breathing rather than his own.

"What was that, Sasuke?" Orochimaru teased in order to hopefully regain his sense of control over the Uchiha. "Missing your body, even though you can't even handle it anymore?"

"I will, Orochimaru, I will learn how to control it again," Sasuke replied calmly, more to convince himself than his captor.

"If you get your body back, you might learn again," Orochimaru said once again. "But I'll never give you this beautiful body back to a sorry child like you." Orochimaru stood in front of a mirro, so Sasuke could see his own body.

Sasuke wasn't shocked at his appearance but _was _scrutinizing it intently. He now knew it had been at least a year since he had been in control of his body due to the sight of his body. . . _a whole year of my life, wasted_, he realized. The thought saddened him a little, but he ignored the feeling. The uchiha also noted, in a way, that he looked similar to Orochimaru, like a younger version of his captor. Orochimaru had grown his hair out as he had promised and was still growing taller.

His face was now twisted in evil as Orochimaru's had been. Sasuke wondered how his voice sounded. Would it have the same softness yet cruelty Orochimaru had? Or would it remain purely Sasuke's voice? He didn't know. In fact, Sasuke didn't really care what Orochimaru had done to or with his body, for that was Orochimaru's and _only_ Orochimaru's fault. . . no one else's. Even if it was Sasuke's own hand that committed every single one of those sins, even if Sasuke blamed it on himself. Sasuke was not the mind behind his actions. He understood the truth of that now.

Sasuke kept in touch with his senses, continuing to feel Orochimaru's breath, see the reflection on the mirror, and hear the background noises. But it was becoming difficult to multi-task all of that with his other secret actions, and Orochimaru could catch him at any moment. . . Sasuke was almost there, he almost knew. . . It had to be what he wanted due to how Orochimaru had responded on impulse to Sasuke touching that particular place.

Orochimaru moved away from the mirror finally and strolled down the long, lonely corridors. "Would you like to see anything else?" he attempted a taunt again.

Sasuke didn't answer at first, only watching and listening. . . trying to concentrate. Then he fully registered the question, and had a feeling Orochimaru might know what he was up to. "I don't care," the Uchiha stated. "Do whatever you want."

Orochimaru laughed cruelly. "What slowed your answer, Sasuke? Too much to handle still?"

Sasuke smirked in his mind. Now Orochimaru was the naïve one, thinking that Sasuke couldn't handle all of the senses merging together. Of course, he didn't say that to Orochimaru.

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After some time, Orochimaru shoved a very calm Sasuke back into his corner. The snake was obviously bored with Sasuke's indestructible content.

As soon as Orochimaru left him alone, and Sasuke drew up the barrier, blocking his thoughts, the Uchiha grew the most excited he had been in days. Unbeknownst to Orochimaru, Sasuke had found something very vital while he had pretended to watch everything his captor did.

The secret. . . Orochimaru's hidden secret. . .

Sasuke had found it. The Jutsu that had allowed Orochimaru to steal his body could be overcome. It _could _be countered, it _could _be destroyed. All he needed was _one_ chance, just one. And two certain people from his past whom he knew could help him.

But would they help? And how could he tell them what he had learned? This was going to be a lot harder than he had thought, but at least he had a goal and a plan to accomplish that goal. . . control over his body, which would have to be wounded to rid Orochimaru, and a certain seal, which could destroy Orochimaru's space. And a way to stay alive and breathing without Orochimaru's help. . . Just little yet huge requirements, and he would be free again.

_Naruto. . . Sakura. . . I hope you haven't given up on me, even though I betrayed your trust every step of the way._

Sasuke decided that he wouldn't feel angry if they didn't help. . . One way or another, he would reach freedom whether the goal was through fully living or simple death.

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A/N: There. The end of part 2 :D One more chapter and part to go!!! Review if you want, you all know how much I love reviews :-P Lol, but I can do without I guess :-) I might have made a few mistakes, since I didn't fully proof-read it twice like I usually do. . . so if you find any errors, let me know and I'll fix them :-D Thanks for everything you guys. And also I particularly thank you for reading and especially liking :-D Thankies :-)


	10. Meaning to Betrayal

A/N: The last chapter. . . YAY!!! I'm FREEEE!!! NO MORE STUFF ON THIS FANFIC TO UPDATE!!!!! LOL, but there will be a sequel. I haven't decided on a name yet though … I AM already Four chapters into writing it though :-D so look forward to it coming out …. In two weeks :-P yep. I've been working hard, that's why this last chapter came out so late. Plus, I get a nice head start before the sequel has to come out, too :-D Anyway, I did this chapter a little differently. It's told from kinda flashbacks. Sakura is looking back and telling you what's happened. And same with Sasuke. So I hope it works out :-D Oh yeah!!! I gotta thank everyone!! ;-) I'll do that at the end. K? k. enjoy :-D

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Part 3 – Meaning to Betrayal

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Finally they had a chance. Orochimaru couldn't keep Sasuke forever, for the Uchiha had spoken the trick to countering the Jutsu. The plan was easy, and Sakura remembered the memory of discovering it as if it had occurred only a few minutes ago, even if it had been at least a year.

"_Sakura, watch out!" Naruto shouted as Orochimaru came her way._

_But no time for dodging existed, and Sakura could only wait for the inevitable, fatal blow. . . from Sasuke's own body, even if it was controlled by another. The Leaf Village was doomed if they could not defeat this ninja._

"_Sakura!" Naruto repeated, helplessly trying to save her. But he was too late for his companion. . ._

_Suddenly an unexpected action from Orochimaru occurred. He froze, stopped moving, and ceased his own attack._

_But why? Sakura asked herself. Naruto had only injured Orochimaru a little. The snake Sannin couldn't possibly be in too much pain to attack. But what else could it be?_

"_Sakura," Orochimaru's voice echoed against the forest, but it couldn't be the snake's voice because this voice was a softer one, a lonely one. "Naruto. . ." the voice continued. "It's me."_

"_Sasuke?!" Naruto guessed hopefully._

"_Yes, I—"_

_A transformation occurred, and. . . Orochimaru was back, ready to continue his attack. This time, however, Sakura was prepared to fight back, even more than before now that she knew Sasuke was still in there. Then, once again, Orochimaru froze. Sakura waited for Sasuke to speak again._

"_There's a way to break the Jutsu," Sasuke struggled to say and keep control over his body at the same time. "You have to. . . h-hurt my body first, though, so I can get control again. Then you have to seal Orochimaru out forever."_

"_What seal?" Sakura inquired quickly before Orochimaru could come back and steal their chance to save Sasuke._

_He told her the name, and explained that Lady Tsunade would be able to teach her it better then he could._

_Naruto had grown silent as the time had passed, but finally he found words. "Sasuke. . . you want to come back?" he asked softly. "You don't want to kill you're brother anymore. . .? Even after you betrayed us all those years ago?"_

_A touch of guilt crossed Sasuke's tone as he began to speak again. "I've given up on my brother. I could never regret my decision those years ago as I regret it now. I wouldn't be surprised if neither you nor the village would agree to help me at all now. . ." The Uchiha's presense disappeared from the clearing as he finally returned his body to Orochimaru._

"_Sasuke!" Sakura screamed at his disappearance._

_Displeasure etched Orochimaru's features. . . no, uncontrollable fury at Sasuke better described the emotion, spreading over the Sannin's face. And Sasuke's captor retreated, the rest of the Sound ninja following on his heels._

_Sakura and Naruto, exhausted from the battle, chose not to follow._

"_Did you see his face, Naruto?" Sakura whispered, so Naruto stepped closer to hear. "Orochimaru was _so_ angry. . . you think Sasuke will be all right? You think Orochimaru will hurt him?"_

_Naruto shrugged sadly. "I don't know, Sakura, I just don't know. . . what do you think we should do?"_

_This time, Sakura shrugged. "I guess. . . well. . . Tsunade doesn't want us to save him, she's forbidden it. . . so I don't know either. . ."_

_Naruto's face grew serious. "I promised you that I would save him Sakura. I will not go back on my promise, no matter who gets in my way! Even if Sasuke himself didn't want to be rescued, I'd still save him."_

"_But, Naruto," Sakura argued, attempting to change his mind. "There's danger everywhere now! You shouldn't keep this promise—"_

"_It's the Shinobi way," Naruto interrupted with his deep, raspy voice._

_The sureness of her companion forced Sakura to give a small smile and a firm nod. "You're right," she agreed. "I guess I'll learn the seal. . . and we'll go save him as soon as we can. . ."_

"_We won't tell anyone," Naruto added. "Even the ones we trust the most. . . we have to be careful."_

Sakura exhaled a sigh of sorrow. The moment she had brought up the seal to Tsunade, her sensei had forbidden Sakura to ever mention or think of it again. But Sakura hadn't given up, but she searched books for the name of the seal, finally discovering the reason to Tsunade's anger at the even mention of it.

The victim of the seal would have only a half chance of survival through the process. And the caster of the Jutsu would have an even smaller chance of life. Sakura was almost certain Sasuke had not known these consequences of the seal, or he wouldn't have asked it of them, he just couldn't have asked it of them. . . She was _almost_ certain of that.

She had learned how to perform the seal a while ago. . . the chance was completely random, and there was no possible way to avoid the probable consequences. But Sakura decided, almost at once after she had learned the seal, that the consequences wouldn't scare her out of saving Sasuke. She had even told Naruto, who had refused to allow her to save Sasuke anymore. . . but in the end, Sakura convinced Naruto that it was _her_ decision, and hers alone. The blonde Shinobi stayed quiet after that.

Finally the day to save Sasuke had come. Naruto and Sakura had sneaked out of the village during the night, hoping they could pass with an excuse of being sick for a few days when they came back. They had somehow made it to Orochimaru himself, and fought him with all their might. Only later did Sakura realize that Orochimaru had been expecting them. . .

The Sannin had put up a good fight, but. . . Naruto had practiced forever, mastering Jutsu, doing all he could in order to save Sasuke that Orochimaru and him and Sakura were an even match. The one advantage they had over Orochimaru was Sasuke himself. Every so often, the snake would lose control over Sasuke's body, so Naruto had a chance to wound Sasuke's body enough. And Orochimaru lost complete control for only a small minute.

In that minute, Sakura made the choice to save Sasuke with no thought of losing her own life. She performed the seal with Naruto watching hopefully. And there she was, possibly losing Sasuke's life, and maybe even losing her own. . . the last thing she saw was Sasuke's pale, lifeless face. . . and she collapsed, the color of black swarming around her. Naruto's scream of worry was only in the background

XXX

The tormenting had never stopped. For that whole year since he had spoken to Sakura and Naruto, Orochimaru had never ceased his torture on Sasuke's mind. Every few moments, he would force Sasuke to see a painful memory from either Orochimaru's or Sasuke's past. . . and it only consisted of painful emotions or killing. . . Sasuke was losing his grip on himself again.

The torture was a little ironic. Sasuke had once cherished the time he had been able to search Orochimaru's memories for hints on how to escape. . . but now, it was different. Orochimaru shoving his own memories into Sasuke's eyes was the same as shoving cookies in someone's mouth until the taste of cookies was no longer sweetening but bitter. . . something enjoyable became painful torture. . .

He admitted, he had lost himself in fear and confusion several times during that long and never-ending year. . . but the Uchiha always managed to find himself again.

The sight of absolute nothingness and the sound of complete silence, he had grown accustomed to the surroundings. . . it no longer bothered him, but actually comforted him during the times Orochimaru was _not_ torturing him with painful memories. Sasuke felt relaxed in the corner of his mind—he felt as though it was all he needed as the year passed by. But his fear of the day when he could control more than that small corner was growing stronger with each feeling of comfort with the reward of nothing.

But one day, he felt a difference in Orochimaru's solid barrier, which prevented Sasuke from regaining control of his body. A crack littered the stone. . . He lowered his own wall, blocking his thoughts, to understand that Orochimaru was fighting to Leaf ninja. . . two whom they both new very well. _Naruto and Sakura!_ he realized, excitedly. _Are they really going to save me. . .?_

Sasuke attempted to help his two. . . acquaintances—he would say friends, but he did not feel worthy of that name—by taking slight control of Orochimaru's hands, legs, and even fingertips randomly. His actions seemed to have thrown Orochimaru off balance since the snake lost more control of Sasuke's body from the wounds that Naruto was, no doubt, inflicting upon him.

"Sasuke, stop!" Orochimaru ordered mentally.

Sasuke paid not a single thread of attention, and continued to throw his captor of his guard.

"Sasuke, my dear, if you don't stop, you'll regret it," Orochimaru continued. "I'll kill your friend Sakura, who's hiding behind Naruto. I could kill her so easily it's sad. Maybe if you stop annoying me, I'll let her live."

Sasuke stopped, at once. Even the small chance of Sakura dying was impossible to think about. . . he didn't want it. . . he couldn't. . . lose. . . Sakura. . .

"Now, _that_'s better," Orochimaru praised. But Sasuke knew the damage had luckily been done already. . . Orochimaru was doomed to lose control, ever since Naruto had wounded him just one time. . . Naruto and Sakura would have a huge advantage over his captor now.

Suddenly, he felt his body completely incapacitated to Orochimaru, and took the chance to take control. Orochimaru was fighting to regain Sasuke's wounded body, but Sasuke fought back.

Soon the Uchiha realized that he was suffocating. . . but why? He had perfect access to the air around him. . . then he realized the answer. He was gasping for breath, struggling to remember how to breathe normally. It wasn't a wound, it was only his small, incompetent mind.

"Sasuke, it's a pattern. You have to breathe in and out normally," he heard Sakura say, but he could only barely register the sight, remember to breathe at the same time, and keep Orochimaru at bay.

Then he heard a slight sound of someone saying the name of the seal, he had learned of when he searched Orochimaru's memories. And he felt the life being sucked out of him. If he hadn't been suffocating before, Sasuke was certain he was now. . . a strange force seemed to be smothering him. . .

_The seal,_ he realized sadly. . . _Sakura's performing the seal, and I'm dying. . ._

Sasuke heard a loud, piercing scream from the back of his mind, and recognized Orochimaru. _Is the seal working. . .?_ Then Sasuke was forced to push the thought aside as he remembered the strangling feeling in his throat, and felt his life slowly being lost. The Uchiha heard another shout, as well, but this one seemed to come from Naruto.

"Sakura!" the blonde ninja had screamed.

Sasuke tried to breathe as he wondered what on earth could've been hurting Sakura. . . but he received no time to wonder. His life was slowly, every so slowly, was fading away—he could feel it. It was only a matter of time, painful time.

He smiled in his mind. . . Whether he would live or die, the Uchiha knew he would be free. Sasuke owed Naruto and Sakura everything for what they had done. . . everything. . . he was losing himself in the darkness. The dark wrath of death seemed to be slowly taking over.

_Why did I betray them? _Sasuke asked himself. _What the hell was I thinking? I was so selfish, so selfish. . ._ _There must have been a reason why I abandoned them. . . why. . .?_

The realization struck him cold as more darkness overtook him. There _was_ no reason to why he left. He had left out of the pure desire of power. . . His whole life had been based on the foundation of, one day, killing his brother, a goal to which he no longer dreamed to reach. And now he owed everything to the ones, who had tried to wake him up from his cold life. . . he had lost everything, and now he could not repay his comrades. . . his _friends_. . .

There _was_ no meaning to his foolish betrayal, and he would regret that as long as he lived. . . but he lived no more, he would die from the seal. . . he drew his last uneven breath and gave in to the darkness.

_I'm finally free,_ he said silently. _Thank you, Naruto and Sakura, for everything you've done._

XXX

A/N: And that's that ;-) Hope you all liked. And just think. . . a sequel without SASUKE!!!!??? I mean, he's the main character :-P well, you'll just have to wait to find out :-P And, just in case you want to read, but don't want to put me on your alert system, I'll PM all of you to tell you when the sequel's up :-D So on with other things. . . thank you all of you who have stuck with this story till the end (even after my late update cuz I had to work on my report …). I particularly thank these guys (I use the term "guys" losely for the females out there):

Kaira-chan

LostForever06

LauraNeatO

Dark Austral

A no-namer (sorry, it was an anonymous review :-P)

Magnafan

sasukesmyemo394

aquarius15

JigokuShoujosRevenge

Voldanita

Lizuchiha

watergoddess555

—yep, you all kept my writer's block away each time you reviewed. Thanks:-D If I missed someone, please kill me… or to my benefit, just tell me so I can add you to the list :-P LOL, and I'm sorry if I put someone more than once… I'm so disorganized :-S so anyway, thanks!! And I'll PM everyone on that list (except the no-namer cuz I can't) when I put the sequel up :-D Thanks again!! See ya later :-D And excuse my grammar on my Author's notes please… I do them so fast, it's scary… :-P LOL. K, really, byyyyeee -cries- see ya….


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